Garment holding rack



June 2, 1936. L. o. DUNCAN 2,043,036

I GARMENT HOLDING RACK Filed Sept. 24, 1934 2 SheetsSheet l June 2, 1936. Q DUNCAN 2,043,036

GARMENT HOLDING RACK Filed Sept. 24, 1934 2 Sheets-=Sheet 2 z 10 \nvefl'ov .Lee 0. Duncan ya, l5 m [a m 1/ M w- W 4 3 1 43 3 4 Ajt n 25 Patented June 2, 1936 UNITED STATES GARMENT HOLDING RACK Lee 0. Duncan, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignor to Grand Rapids Store Equipment Company, Grand Rapids, Mich., a corporation of Michie g an Application September 24, 1934, Serial No. 745,280

3 Claims.

This invention relates to garment holding racks, and is primarily concerned with a simple, economically constructed rack of novel construction which is particularly adapted for use temporarily on the floor of a store, as during a sale of garments; which may be readily disassembled and stored in comparatively small space when not in use, and. with which a great variety of rack formations may be provided so as to carry a large quantity of garments in a relatively small space, all of which will be presented for ready and free access for examination and removal from the rack. Such structure also lends itself to the formation of a garment holding structure adapted to hold a large number of garments surrounding an interior space which may be made to readily serve as a fitting room, which is thus in immediate proximity to the garments to be tried on and eliminates the necessity of going distances to permanent fitting rooms during a sale or the like.

An understanding of the invention for the attainment of the ends stated, as well as many others not at this time specifically enumerated,

may be had from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. l is a perspective view of a single unit rack constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary horizontal section and plan at one end of the rack.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevation of one upper corner of the rack.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation and vertical section of a lower corner.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section through an end of the rack where the garment holding rods are mounted.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary elevation illustrating 40 the connection for detachably securing two of the racks together in spaced apart relation back to back.

Fig. '7 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section illustrating the de- 5 tachable tie rail used therewith, and

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are diagrammatic plans showing three of the numerous ways in which the racks may be variously assembled together for use in a store.

50 Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures of the drawings.

In the construction, a base frame member is provided having spaced apart corner members I connected by a bar 2 which, as shown, is a rela- 55 tively thin bar of metal. End bars 3 of like form extend from the corner members I at right angles to the bar 2 and at their ends are provided with corner members 4. All of the members I and 4 used preferably have vertical openings 5 there- 60 through (Fig. 4).

In assembling the rack two of the frame structures, each of which includes a back 2 and ends 3 are used, one as a baseand the other as an upper frame structure, as shown in Fig. 1. Corner posts Ii, preferably of tubular form are provided, 5 the lower ends thereof entering the vertical openings 5 in the corner members I and 4 of the lower base. The extent of entrance of the lower ends of the corner posts 6 into the openings 5 is governed by the distance that the collars I (Fig. 4) 10 are secured above the lower ends of the posts 6. The openings 5 below the lower ends of the posts 6 furnish convenient openings for the application of casters to the frame structure if it is desired to make the rack readily movable over a floor. The 15 upper ends of the posts 6 pass through the upper corner members I and 4, which rest upon other collars 8 secured at a distance below the upper ends of the posts. The collars 8 may be located so as to permit the upper ends of the tubular 20 posts 6 to pass through and extend above the members I and 4 as shown, or the upper ends of the posts may be made to terminate before -'passing above the corner members.

Midway between the ends of the frame mem- 25 bers 2 a suitable socket member 9 is permanently secured. Also midway between the part 9 and each end of the bar 2 a tubular socket connection It) is permanently secured. Likewise at the inner side of each of the ends 3 and preferably 30 midway between the ends thereof like tubular socket connections II are permanently secured, directly opposed to which at the outer sides of the ends 3 are the like socket connections I2. It is not absolutely essential that these parts 9, I0, I I and I2 shall be present on the base frame but for uniformity of pattern in construction and for interchangeability in use the upper and lower horizontalframe members are preferably of identical construction having the same socket members 9, I0, II and I2 located at the same places.

A rack assembled as described, and as shown in Fig. 1, may be used to support garments on suitable hangers hung from an upper horizontal rod I3 the ends of which are received within the tubular socket connections I I. There is also shown a lower rod I4 which, while not necessarily present, serves to strengthen and reinforce the construction. The connection of the rods I3 and I4 to their socket members II is illustrated as a quick and readily detachable connection, there being bayonet slots in the tubular members II and a pin carried near each end of each rod I3 or I 4 to engage therewith. Any other suitable form of detachable connection may be used, for example right and left-hand threading on the ends of the rods l3 and I4 and similar cooperating interior threading on the socket members II and I 2.

The assembly of a number of the racks in diiferent forms is illustrated in Figs. 9, 10 and 11. In Fig. 9 two of the assembled racks are illustrated in horizontal alinement spaced apart from each other. Between the spaced apart ends of the adjacent racks a rod 15 similar to the rod I3 is held in the outside tubular socket members 12 on the upper end bars 3. Of course a similar rod for strengthening and reinforcing purposes may be held between the connecting members 12 on the end base bars 3. This construction may be extended indefinitely and cocupy the entire side of a store if desired, or any part of such length. In Fig. 10 two of the assembled racks are located back to back spaced from each other. A tie rail l6 having a suitable tongue or key I! at each end to enter the members 9 is provided and may be used at both the upper and lower portions of the rack to detachably tie the spaced apart adjacent back bars 2 together. Then garment holding rods l8 may be detachably connected at their ends to and extend between the connecting members It) carried at the rear sides of the back bars 2.- This provides a substantially rectangular construction with two bars l3 and two bars i8 from which garment hangers may be suspended, as shown in Fig. 10. In Fig. 11 four of the racks are assembled. Two of the racks are located in alinement but spaced apart from each other with rods I5a between the connecting members 52. A similar assembly of two of the racks similarly spaced and connected by rod I50, is placed back to back but spaced from the first pair of racks and connected together by the tie rails H5. The outer connecting members Ill only have the garment hanger holding rods I8 assembled therewith and one of the rods I5a only is used on which to support garments on hangers. From the other rod 15a a curtain I9 is suspended.

Within the interior space a temporary fitting or dressing room structure may be installed having a side 20 which extends substantially from one tie rail l6 to the other, ends 2! which extend alongside said rails l6, sections 22 paralleling the side 20 until the adjacent ends of the racks are reached, thence being turned at right angles as indicated at 23 to extend to the rod 15a on which the curtain I9 is hung. This interior structure may be made of suitable material, such as compo-board, which readily folds at the corners and is collapsible into very small space but can be unfolded and set up to position as shown in Fig. 11. With such construction garments are held on the rods l8 and I3 and one of the rods l5a so as to extend entirely around the rack except at the room entrance where the curtain I9 is located. Garments selected may be taken into the room and tried on and fitted without the necessity of going considerable distances for such purpose.

The invention described is particularly useful in connection with sales of garments which take place periodically in stores and in which a large quantity of garments must be exhibited and in a position where the same can be seen and examined very quickly and expeditiously. The use of temporary rack structures for this purpose is common but ordinarily after once being used, the racks must be destroyed or stored away until the next time of use. With permanent racks the space required for storing is excessively large. With my invention the racks may be disassembled so as to occupy very small space and can be very quickly and easily assembled, there being .in effect, outside of the garment supporting rods and such connecting rails as the rails IE, but two parts to be manufactured, namely, the base and top in duplicate and the corner posts 6 in quadruplicate. Each of the corner posts 5 is interchangeable with the other and the base member frame member and the top frame member are likewise interchangeable so that it makes no difierence whether a selected frame member is used at the bottom or at the top of the rack. The extension of the posts 6 above the corner iembers I and 4 of the top rack frame member may be utilized to place a temporary display sign around the upwardly projecting ends to advertise the sale which is taking place, and to give information about the garments which are held upon a particular rack. As said before it is not necessary that these posts thus extend above the corner members I and 4, and in some instances the racks will not have such upper extensions to the corner posts 6.

The invention described is very practical, is economical to manufacture and is particularly useful for the purposes for which it is designed. There are many variations in detail of the structure which may be resorted to. For example the back and end bars 2 and 3, which are shown f flat metal, may be readily replaced by tubular pipes with suitable pipe unions, couplings and the like to supply the equivalents of the connecting members 9, 10, H and I2 located at substantially the same places shown and described.

The invention accordingly is not to be considered as limited in any respect to the specific detail of structure shown, but is to be considered comprehensive of all forms of structure coming within the scope of the appended claims defining the invention.

I claim:

1. A plurality of racks, each having an opening at a vertical side and means for supporting articles within the rack, article holding bars extending between the racks and maintaining them in predetermined fixed spaced apart relationship and means for detachably connecting said article holding bars at their respective ends to the respective racks, said detachable connecting means being on a plurality of vertical sides and said article holding bars being interchangeably detachably connectable with any of said connecting means.

2. A garment storage and display assembly comprising a plurality of racks, each having two vertical ends and a vertical back and an open front side, a garment supporting bar extending horizontally within each rack between the vertical ends thereof, spacing article supporting bars each extending between two racks of the plurality holding them in fixed spaced apart relationship and forming article holding compartments between said racks and means for detachably connecting the respective ends of said spacing article supporting bars to the exteriors of the racks.

3. The elements defined in claim 2 in which said racks are provided with said detachable connecting means on a plurality of vertical sides and the ends of said spacing article supporting bars are interchangeably detachably connectable with any of said connecting means.

LEE 0. DUNCAN. 

